Nova's Dawning
Chapter 25

I didn’t dream that night, instead I woke up to the sound of yelling.

Thea was there in her hospital gown, yelling at Bee who was still wearing her scrubs. Her eyes were dark, and I could tell that something was not right.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING.”

“I didn’t know she was that badly injured, but you were DYING.”

Thea stopped, and I sat up, however Osiris held his arm in front of me. His shield was up, because Thea was surrounded by a black haze, that even they could see, it was so strong.

“When you fell, something had stabbed you in the stomach, if you don’t remember. She was trying to pull you off what had impaled you, and in return the planks from the beams fell and hit her in the back, but she kept going Thea. When I got there, she wasn’t stopping for anything until you were okay. She thought you were dead, as did I. I offered to only heal you with half of what I had and then half on her, but she said she was fine, because she wanted to make sure YOU would live. I didn’t know! If I had... she made me use up all my stamina on you before I finally realized that she was indeed not fine! So, if you want to yell at me that’s quite all right because she was our friend too T and if you think screaming at me will bring her back it won’t. She did what she did because she loves you. That’s what she said then on the stage, and that’s what she said to you in the room. Don’t let that be for nothing.”

I realized that her words had meant Selene was gone, that she hadn’t made it through what should have been her final surgery.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and all I could do was lay back down. Thea dropped to the floor, her sobs echoing in the dark waiting room, and we cried, feeling a loss we had not been prepared for, and I wish we would have never had to feel again.

To try to explain how I felt when I became conscious, well it was nothing short of being hit by a bus. I didn’t want to open my eyes or accept the truth. In fact, I barely wanted to be aware of anything except for the feel of Osiris beside me, and the sound of my own breathing. I tried, and I tried to just pretend that she wasn’t gone, that she was going to be in the hospital bed cured of all illness and disease. I could tell Thea wasn’t in the room, but I didn’t want to move to see who was. I must have changed my breathing, because Osiris started to rub my back.

“I know you’re awake.” he said.

My eyes welled up again, but with all the strength I could muster I opened them. The room was bright, but the mood was dark. There were strangers there, some nonchalant, others with solemn looks upon their face, although the saddest faces in the room belonged to those closest to me at the time, and it was an indescribable feeling.

“Good morning, well afternoon.” Mo said, trying to force himself to smile. No matter what I knew he wasn’t going to falter. My friends were stronger than me at that point, because all I could do was cry. At that moment we were in the waiting room, waiting on Thea’s release. She had been getting regular visits from Bee, according to the doctor who came to speak with us and was projected to be released at some point today.

Sam left for a food run, and Osiris left and came back with very large cups of coffee. It wasn’t very flavorful, but it was something to get me up and running.

Eventually after Sam had returned and we had devoured our food we were able to visit Thea again, before her last check in, to make sure she could be released.

When we entered the room, I was surprised to see her not swallowed in the darkness. She had red eyes, and tear stained cheeks, but when we walked in she smiled. My heart broke for her, and I hugged her tightly.

Her sobs had stopped, but the tears weren’t going anywhere. I cried hard, hugging my friend. Osiris put his hands on my back and I pulled away, wiping away my tears.

“Goodness Star, it’s like you lost the woman you love.” She said to me, her voice thick.

I forced a smile and Jack sat next to her.

“T... We are here for you if you need anything. Seriously. You’re our best friend, so don’t hesitate to lean on any of us, no matter what, okay?”

It was surprising to hear the words come out of Jack, but they were true nonetheless.

She nodded. “Thanks Jack. I appreciate it. A lot. Everyone. I really appreciate it.”

We returned to the waiting room, and as we were going to sit down an elderly couple came running in through the double doors.

“We’re here for Selene Dwyer. We’re her parents, we demand to see her right now.” The nurse nodded and I looked away. I hated to think about how many times things like this happened for that nurse.

“Wait, just a moment the doctor will be out to speak with you.” the nurse replied. She called for him and several heavy moments later he walked in and looked at them sadly.

“Follow me.” he said.

He took them through a set of double doors where I’m sure he gently gave them the news, because Selene’s mother’s scream was shortly followed, by angry shouts of his father. After moments of awkward silence Selene’s parents came through the doors abhorred by the news and were now carrying a mountain of paperwork.

Not only had we lost a friend, but these people had lost their only child, and I began to cry again. At that time a man dressed in a police uniform found Selene’s parents and began to try to explain things to them.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” I muttered and Osiris nodded, not being able to look away from their dismay.

I got up with tears in my eyes and started to navigate the halls of the hospital. I remembered that I was supposed to go through the doors on the left, go straight, and then it would be on the right. However, with tears flowing steadily I couldn’t find them. It took me a couple more hallways to realize that those directions had been how to access the bathroom in the first waiting room. I couldn’t stop crying and rubbing at my face, but I started to look for a map or at least an exit sign.

I leaned against a wall for a second as I tried to regain my breath and fluttering heartbeat. I had been crying so hard I hadn’t realized my body was starting to go into shock. I was shaking and my heart was pounding.

At the time I couldn’t put it together.

I decided to try and go back the way I came, but instead I happened across a door with stairs and a bathroom sign pointed up on it. I shrugged to myself, just trying to get to the bathroom and I entered. The bathroom sign was pointed up the stairs, so I started to walk up, which was when I heard the click. I froze, pure terror had now seized me, and if my emotions hadn’t been overflowing I would have been able to see it. I turned slowly and there she was, the Dean. The barrel of the gun was perfectly aligned between my eyebrows, and somewhere in my fear I found the courage to speak.

“You won’t get away with this.” My hands were shaking violently and I got to get a good look of her face. Her eyes were an icy blue that could freeze elephants.

“I know, but this way you’re gone from this earth.” The Dean said, a hatred in her voice. It was evident she had no care in the world about herself after what would happen. The gunshot in this hallway would echo on every floor, alerting everyone, but I believe she knew that.

“How does this fix anything?” I said through my tear streaked face, hoping maybe I could be spared.

“I don’t know yet.” and she pulled the trigger without any hesitation.

“NO!” Just then Osiris burst through the door, and the bullet hit a shield and fell to the floor.

“NO DON’T!” The Dean yelled, shooting at me over and over again. Each bullet hit the shield Osiris had thrown up in front of me, until the clicking of her gun was the only sound. Mo, Jack, and Sam entered shortly afterward and all four of my friends tackled the Dean, knocking the gun out of her hand. Moments later security came in and they arrested her.

“NO! You need to be stopped! Someone put her down! She’s going to destroy everything! EVERYTHING!”

Her screams shook me to the core and I felt really cold.

Osiris was there to wrap me in his arms. “You’re okay, Star. I promise I’ll never let anything hurt you... Star? Are you okay? You’re so cold. Star?!”

The shock dragged me down into the darkness as if I had fainted.

“She’s probably dehydrated and traumatized.” I heard someone say as I fell further down into the darkness that I had ever had before.

I landed on my back, it causing me physical pain. I sat up slowly and took in my surroundings. I was in a room, one that seemed familiar, when I saw Bee. She looked different in the sense that her eyes were darker, her hair was longer, and she seemed thinner, if that was really possible.

“Bee?”

She put her hand up without looking at me. “I only talk to Michaela. I only interact with Michaela.”

“Who is Michaela? I can go get her for you.” She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “No, please don’t cry.”

Her shoulders shook and her face was distorted with pain, and it became clear to me that this person here in front of me, couldn’t be the Bee I knew.

“Everything I’ve ever loved is gone!”

“No, no, no. Let me help you.” I got closer to her, wanting to help, not being able to bear the weight of her sadness. I wrapped my arms around her and she froze for a half a second until her cries began to ring out in the small room.

I could see that she had been painting with her hands, and on the canvas below us was a beautiful picture of the ocean, so pure and blue, similar to the light that my Bee emitted.

“Bee if you’re in there, speak to me.”

“But... but...”

She faded away from within my arms and I slumped down to the floor, the sadness taking over every inch of me. It was as if I was suddenly in a pool of water, and I was just floating there. At the bottom of the water I could see the long-haired Bee, painting her very own ocean. I wanted to talk to her, but I couldn’t get the words to come out. The darkness had inadvertently taken over everything that I was.

“Starlite.”

I heard my name from above me, and with several moments of hesitation I tore my gaze from the girl below and looked up. A blue light was filling the darkness and I tried to reach up towards it. It took all the strength I had to lift up my hand and grasp at the light. I felt warmth coming from it, and the warmer I got, the less I felt like I was in water, and the more I felt like I was in a fluffy bed.

“Star?” The voice had gotten louder, and I realized that my body was starting to wake up.

I focused hard on trying to climb out of the sludge that was threatening to drag me back down and I opened my eyes.

It was bright, and it only took me a couple seconds to realize that I was in a hospital room.

“Star!”

My friends shouted my name, elated, and even Michy was in the back, sitting there looking almost too happy.

“How long have I been out?” I asked, sitting up, feeling lightheaded and frail.

“Hours, we weren’t sure if you were going to pull out.” Michy said.

Osiris shot her an angry look and then turned back to me. “Michy says that when you got overwhelmed and scared the ‘darkness’ took advantage of you, and because you were-”

“Because you were weak,” Michy interrupted, “You couldn’t get yourself out, so Bee had to use all of her power to pull you out.”

She wasn’t saying it angrily, but her tone was terrifying. Osiris was still glaring at her, but he put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I nodded still unsure of how to feel.

“I’m sorry... I didn’t want to scare anyone. I’ll try to take better care of myself.” My words were flat, but I wanted to mean them.

After my friends made sure I was fine they started to head out back to the waiting room, leaving only Michy and Osiris to take care of me. Michy was giving me a strange look that was a slight mix of sadness and like she wanted to ask me something.

“Hey babe, do you think you could go get me something hot to drink?”

He nodded, kissed my cheek, and glared at Michy as he walked out.

“What’s that about?” I asked the second he was gone.

“Well... He called me at first, because he thought maybe I could do somethin’, so I came over, and when I told him I couldn’t, he got mad at me. He figured I had all the answers since we share powers but I don’t. Everyone’s gifts are unique to each other.”

I nodded, understanding, and thinking about how I would attempt to explain that to him later.

“Michy... do you think me being saved will result in the death of someone else?”

“Let me ask you this Star. Did you ever actually see yourself die?” She leaned forward in her seat, a smile on her face.

“Uh...” I tried to think, but the furthest I ever got in the vision was the bullet coming out of the gun. “No... I never did.”

“Then you never actually saw yourself die, for all you know this could have been what happened all along.”

“So, everyone is safe??” My hope was so bright, that I couldn’t tell what Michy was thinking.

“It would seem so, wouldn’t it?” Her voice didn’t match her words, but my excitement radiated over the room.

I’m sure the smile on my face was huge, and when Osiris walked back in he smiled back at me, but there was a sadness in his eyes.

“I ran into Selene’s parents in the hallway, the funeral is tomorrow...” He looked away from me as I took the drink from him, due to him not wanting me to see him sad. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he kissed the top of my head.

Michy left without me realizing and it was just us in the room. Eventually a nurse came in and after some paperwork I was able to leave. A part of me wishes I had just stayed in that hospital room for the rest of the week, so that I knew nothing of what was to come for me and my loved ones.

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